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I watched this and the exceptionally boring announcer, though he may be a real race car driver, put me to sleep. He needs to give up TV and go back to driving. My snoring woke me up about 45 minutes later. I TIVO'd it and tried it again later, still no joy. I deleted it.

I watched this and the exceptionally boring announcer, though he may be a real race car driver, put me to sleep. He needs to give up TV and go back to driving. My snoring woke me up about 45 minutes later. I TIVO'd it and tried it again later, still no joy. I deleted it.

It was the cars that kept me interested, not the host, but I did think that Hans Stuck sounded like a pretty interesting character. Not being a race-car follower, I had never heard of him.

Hans Stuck is the Godfather of all BMW racing. His father set the land speed record in 1936 in an Auto Union (now Audi). I loved seeing Hans in the M6 on the Autobahn seemingly relaxed while driving 190+! For the folks that have no idea who he is, here is his bio:

Career

1951

Hans is born at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on 1 st January, son of Christa-Maria and Hans Stuck, famous racing driver and hill-climb champion.

"I accompanied my father to his races, so I got the 'fuel virus' very early. When I was there and watched how the cars were prepared, and when he was lining up for the start, there was for me no other idea than becoming a racing driver.

I remember being at a hill-climb race, I was watching from the finish line, on top of the mountain, waiting for him to come up. He was last in his class to come up the hill and all the other young drivers were standing around watching to see the time put up by my dad. Then he came up as the last runner, 60 years old, with the fastest time. They said, 'How can we beat this old fart?' This was something I'll never forget, because he was a real king of the mountain."

1960

"My father bought a BMW 600, which was a very small car and the door opened at the front. It was a very funny car. It had a frame so we took the bodywork off and had a sort of open, very fast go-kart."

1965

"When I was 14 years old, I accompanied my dad to the Nürburgring because my dad was an instructor at the driving school. I was allowed to drive, even without a driving license, because it was a private property."

1967

"When I turned 16, I got my road-driving license. Normally, you have to be 18 in Germany, but I got my license at 16 with a special permit from the government. The first half-year I could only drive with my dad sitting next to me, then my dad and my mom. After a year, I was free."

1969

Hans wins the School of Driving at the Nürburgring and contests his first race with Team Koepchen in a BMW 2002 ti. He is forced to stop 17 times during the 300 kilometre race due to a problem with the throttle linkage. Five podium finishes are needed in one year to obtain an international licence. Hans finishes third in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and adds four hill-climb podiums to his tally, thus securing the license in just two months.

"One of the instructors was the owner of a BMW tuning company, Hans-Peter Koepchen, and he liked my style of driving. When I won the school of driving, he offered to do my first race on the Nürburgring a week later with a BMW 2002. I had to go and ask my dad. My dad knew if he gave me permission to do a race once, there would be no way of returning. He thought about it because in his career, which was very long and very successful, he had had many accidents, he spent many years in hospital with a broken neck and then with a broken back. He was kind of scared to give his permission but it was already too late!"

1970

Hans starts in the German Touring Car Championship with Team Koepchen and a BMW 2002 ti, consequently celebrating his first big success – winning the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Unfortunately, the team withdraws from series due to financial problems.

"I learned a lot from my dad, even though we were totally different drivers. He was not so aggressive, but a very thoughtful and very smooth driver. At the beginning of my career it must have been terrible because I was always sideways. When I came into the pits, there were no bugs on the windscreen, they were on the door or the side of the car!"

1971

1971 in his Hans' first season as BMW factory driver, during which he takes part in the European Touring Car Championship with Team Alpina in a BMW 2002ti and a 2800 coupe. In this year he also completes his first Formula 2 race at the Nürburgring in an Eifelland-Brabham BT30 Ford.

In this year, fellow German driver Jochen Rindt sports the first full-face race helmet. Hans follows suit, but he wants to distinguish his plain blue helmet, so he adds homemade white stick-on stars. Three decades later, the blue helmet with white stars is still his trademark.

1972

Hans changes teams and moves to the Ford factory team with mentor Jochen Neerpasch. In a Ford Capri RS he becomes the Drivers' Champion of the German Touring Car Championship. He also wins the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium with Jochen Mass in a Ford Capri RS.

1973

Hans completes his first Formula One races with team March in a 741 Ford, and finishes fourth in Brazil. He takes six world championship points, wins the Prix Rouge et Blanc and becomes Rookie of the year. He starts his second season in the European Formula 2 Championship with March in a BMW 742. By the end of the season he has four wins and two second-place finishes to his name.

He remains a BMW factory driver, competes in the European Touring Car Championship and wins the 4 Hours of Salzburg, Austria.

"I still remember my first Formula One race in Argentina. I didn't have a lot of chances to test, so the first time I drove the car was at the track in Argentina. I thought I was pretty good in the car. There was a double right-hand corner at the back of the track and I was going pretty good there, pretty fast. All of a sudden, a red flash passed me on the outside. It was Niki Lauda. I thought I might as well go home, there was no chance for me!"

1975

Although quick in Formula One, he has no luck with team March Ford. He wins the Formula 2 Jim Clark Memorial race at Hockenheim, Germany, and also the 9 Hours of Kyalami in South Africa driving a BMW 3.5 CSL. Once again he is a BMW factory driver and wins the U.S. IMSA Championship in a BMW 3.5 CSL. He finishes third in the Drivers' Championship and is named Rookie of the year. He clinches five wins including victory in the 12 Hours at Sebring with Ronnie Peterson.

1976

This year Hans competes in Formula One with team March, wins eight championship points and comes fourth in the Monaco Grand Prix. In Formula 2 he picks up four wins in a March BMW 762.

1977

Hans moves to Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One team driving a Brabham BT 45 Alfa Romeo V12. He finishes seventh in the World Championship, taking podium finishes at Hockenheim and Zeltweg.

In the German Touring Car Championship he picks up three wins in a BMW 320i.

"Bernie asked, 'How much do you think you would like to earn?' With March I got $2000 for a Formula One race, $1000 for a Formula 2 race. So I said, 'You're Formula One, you have the famous Alfa engine, I think I should earn $100,000 per year.' Bernie started to smile and all of a sudden the phone rang. He explained that he was talking to Arturo Merzario from Italy, who was also in line to drive his car. He said, 'Yes, Arturo, I would like to offer you $30,000.' He hung up the phone, and offered me $35,000, take it or not. I took it, of course. Then I found out that it was really his secretary calling and he was setting me up!"

"It was not only my most successful year, but it was also my best year because I still have a good relationship with Bernie. He was a good boss. Before the last race, the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Bernie told me, 'Hans if you go out and win this race, you'll be my driver for the next two years. If you don't win the race, I have to take Niki Lauda because they want a champion.' I had the pole position but the clutch cable broke at the start. I knew I couldn't finish the race, that was it."

1978

In Formula One, Hans earns two World Championship points with the Shadow-Ford team. In the Production World Championship he scores two wins in a BMW 320 Group 5 car.

"When my dad died on February 8 1978, I had to leave two days afterwards for the Grand Prix of South Africa. I couldn't even qualify the car. I was not mentally free, so I flew home the next day and joined my mom and spent the weekend with her. It took a little while to get over it. He enjoyed every race I did when I was a young kid. He taped the Formula One races and we discussed them afterwards. He tried very carefully to persuade me to try this and try that, but he never put any pressure on me."

1979

In Formula One with the German ATS team Hans picks up five world championship points. He becomes Drivers' Champion in the Procar Series, driving a BMW M1, taking wins at Zandvoort, Monza and the Race of Champions in Mexico.

"I also had an offer from Frank Williams, but he wasn't sure I could fit in the car. So we met in the pits at Watkins Glen at midnight, very sneaky, so I could try and see if I would fit in the car. I did. So he made me an offer, but it was the first year for two cars with the team, so I would have to pre-qualify every race. It didn't look like a very good deal because they had no spare car and little money."

1980

This year Hans finishes second in the German Touring Car Championship with Team Schnitzer in a BMW 320 turbo with wins in Diepholz, Salzburg, Zolder and at the Eifelrennen. In a BMW M1 he takes third place in the Procar Series, with victories at both Monaco and at the Norisring. He also wins the Macau Grand Prix with Team Schnitzer in a BMW 320 and takes third place driving the 1000 kilometre race at the Nürburgring in a BMW M1.

1981

With Team Schnitzer Hans takes third in the German Touring Car Championship driving a 1000 bhp BMW M1. He wins the 1000 kilometre race at the Nürburgring with Nelson Piquet in a BMW M1 (the first BMW victory in the World Endurance Championship). He is also GT class winner driving a BMW M1 in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Walter Brun and Rudi Walch.

1982

This year Hans finishes fourth in the European Touring Car Championship. In a Team Schnitzer BMW 635 CSi he wins the Macau Grand Prix. With a Team Schnitzer BMW M1 he takes third in the German Racing Trophy with wins at Zolder, Nürburgring, Hockenheim, and the Norisring. This year sees also the inaugural season of the Sports Prototype World Championship, with Walter Brun in a Sauber SHS C6 Ford.

1983

Hans takes second in the German Racing Trophy with Team Schnitzer in a BMW M1.

1984

In the European Touring Car Championship with Team Schnitzer, Hans wins the 500 kilometre race of Mugello in a BMW 635 CSi. In the Sports Prototype World Championship he wins the 1000 kilometres of Imola in a Porsche 956 C with Stefan Bellof.

1985

This year Hans moves to Porsche as a factory driver. He becomes Drivers' Champion in the World Endurance Championship with Derek Bell in a Porsche 962, winning at Hockenheim, Mosport Canada and Brands Hatch. He takes second place in the German Sports Car Championship driving with Brun Motorsport in a Porsche 962. With wins at the Nürburgring, Wunstorf, Zeltweg and Erding he earns the title 'German Driver of the Year'.

1986

He narrowly misses first position by one point, taking second place behind co-driver Derek Bell in the World Endurance Championship. He wins both the 24 Heures du Le Mans in France with Derek Bell and Al Holbert, and the 12 Hour race at Sebring with Jo Gartner and Bob Akin in a Porsche 962. He also takes second in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Jo Gartner and Bob Akin in a Porsche 962.

"My first Le Mans win was very spectacular, but it had a very bad black mark on the win because it was the race in which Jo Gartner died, my Austrian friend I won Sebring with. So my first win at Le Mans was definitely under a black shadow."

1987

Driving a Porsche 962, Hans wins the 24 Heures du Le Mans race in France with Derek Bell, and becomes Drivers' Champion in the German ADAC Super Cup in addition to taking second place in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Bob Akin.

1988

Hans wins the 12 Hours at Sebring and takes second place in the 24 Heures du Le Mans in France with Klaus Ludwig in a Porsche 962. He finishes sixth in the U.S. Trans-Am Championship driving an Audi Quattro by winning four races.

1989

In the U.S. IMSA GTO Championship he takes fourth place driving an Audi 90 Quattro and clinches five wins with Walter Röhrl and Hurley Haywood. In the 24 Heures du Le Mans in France he takes third place driving a Porsche 962 with Derek Bell.

1990

Hans becomes Drivers' Champion in the German Touring Car Championship in an Audi V8 Quattro, winning at Avus, Wunstorf, Norisring and Hockenheim. He also competes in the Sports Car World Championship with Team Joest in a Porsche 962C. He takes fourth in the 24 Heures du Le Mans, France.

1991

In the German Touring Car Championship, Hans takes third in an Audi V8 Quattro with wins at Norisring, Diepholz and Singen. He also scores three wins in the U.S. IMSA Supercar Championship in a Brumos Porsche 930 turbo.

1992

In this year the Audi factory team withdrew from the German Touring Car Championship mid-season. Hans took second at Nürburgring Germany, and had two wins at the U.S. IMSA Supercar Championship in a Porsche 930 turbo.

1993

Hans wins the title in the U.S. IMSA Supercar Championship in a Porsche 930. He has an incredible tally with nine wins and 11 pole positions. In addition, he wins the 12 Hours at Sebring with Walter Röhrl in a Porsche 930 turbo.

1994

In the 24 Heures du Le Mans, France, with Thierry Boutsen and Danny Sullivan, Hans takes third, driving a Porsche 962. He wins the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen IMSA Championship with Walter Röhrl in a Porsche 930 turbo. He also wins the Touring Car World Final at Donington, driving for Germany in an Audi Quattro.

1995

He takes fourth in the German ADAC Super Touring Car Cup driving an Audi Quattro. In a Porsche 930 he finishes second in the 12 Hours at Sebring and another second in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen U.S. IMSA Championship in a Porsche 930 turbo – both with Bill Adam. Again with Bill Adam, he takes another second in the 3 Hours of Sears Point U.S. IMSA Championship in a Porsche 930 turbo. With Thierry Boutsen in a Kremer Spyder Porsche 962, he takes third in the 24 Heures du Le Mans, France.

1996

He takes a sixth place finish in the International Touring Car Championship with Team Rosberg in an Opel Calibra, but wins at Helsinki. He becomes GT winner of the 12 Hours at Sebring with Bill Adam in a Champion Porsche 930 turbo and GT winner in the 24 Heures du Le Mans with Bob Wollek and Thierry Boutsen in a Porsche GT1. He scores German BPR Series wins at Brands Hatch and Spa- Francorchamps with Thierry Boutsen in a Porsche GT1.

1997

He drives for Porsche works in the International GT Series with Thierry Boutsen in a Porsche GT1. Hans also becomes a Formula One columnist for BILD, the biggest German newspaper, and a special commentator for German RTL television during the ADAC Super Touring Championship.

1998

This year Hans is a development driver for both the BMW V12 LMR and the BMW V8-powered Riley & Scott Mk III. He is also driving the V12 LMR at its first race at LE Mans. Hans takes second in the ISRS Championship at the Nürburgring with Steve Soper and wins the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Andy Bovensiepen, Christian Menzel and Marc Duez in a BMW 320d – the first win worldwide for a diesel engine.

1999

Hans competes in the American Le Mans Series and the United States Road Racing Championship with BMW Team PTG in a BMW M3. He takes GT wins at Lime Rock Park and Sears Point Raceway and finishes runner-up at both Mosport and Petit Le Mans, Atlanta. He wins the American Le Mans Series GT Personality of the Year award, presented by Le Mans Series & Sportscar Racer magazine.

2000

The new century begins with another year driving with Boris Said and BMW Team PTG in the ALMS. Hans finishes first at Sears Point, but gets disqualified because of an oversized fuel cell. He takes first at Laguna Seca, second at Mosport and third at Las Vegas.

He wins the VW Beetle Cup race at Road Atlanta after drawing the 14th starting position.

2001

This is the third year of driving in the USA with Boris Said and BMW Team PTG. He starts the season with a third place at Texas, driving the last race for the 6 cylinder E46 M3. On the debut of the V8-powered M3 GTR, he takes a second place at Sears Point. He wins at Portland and finishes third at Mosport. He finishes the season with a win in the Petit Le Mans co-driving with Boris Said and Bill Auberlen. He is honoured to set a record time at the Nordschleife driving the 750 horsepower, V12-powered BMW X5 Le Mans. With a target of less than eight minutes he covers the historic 20.8 kilometre circuit in 7:49.92, reaching 311 km/h on the straight. In the ADAC 24 hour race at the Nurburgring with the E46 M3 Team Scheid he does not make it to the finish line.

2002

Due to the withdrawal of the M3 GTR from the ALMS, Hans drives only one race with the V8-powered Team Scheid M3, in the ADAC 24 hour race at the Nurburgring – and in this race he does not finish. He becomes spokesperson for BMW's engagement in the America's Cup with ORACLE BMW Racing, spending 3 months in New Zealand. At this time he has the privilege of sailing as the 17th man on one of the USA 76's training runs.

2003

In a year that began with nothing in the pipeline, he finds himself back in the USA with BMW Team PTG competing in the SCCA Pro Racing Speed GT Championship. During the finals of the America's Cup his contract is extended as a BMW Brand Ambassador through to 2005. He is looking forward to three new 2003 model launches, the Z4, X3 and E60/61 5Series. More importantly, his sons Johannes and Ferdinand begin following in their grandfather's and father's tyre tracks, beginning their racing careers. 16-year-old Johannes is racing in the VW Lupo Cup Series in Germany, and 11-year-old Ferdinand is competing in the Italian 60cc go kart championship.

In a BMW M3 GTR Hans competes at the 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring. In the early stages of the race a technical problems hampers his efforts. Although Hans is ploughing through the field alongside Boris Said, John Nielsen and Marc Duez, he has to retire after a collision.

2004

Hans takes his third win in the 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring following his victories in 1970 and 1998. He wins in the BMW M3 GTR alongside Jörg Müller and Dirk Müller.

"Psychologically it was the most strenuous race I have ever entered. The difficult weather conditions meant you were constantly riding on a razor's edge. But despite that it was tremendous fun. I have to express my special praise for the engineers. They handed us a perfectly functioning BMW M3 GTR."

2005

Following the announcement – made in February – that Hans was to once again contest the Nürburgring 24-Hour race with BMW, he started his preparation programme. Together with Dirk Müller, he contested the season opener of the BFGoodrich Endurance Championship, at the wheel of the BMW M3 GTR. Unfortunately, the race had to be red-flagged due to dense fog. To gain further Nordschleife experience, Hans took part of several events for Schubert Motors, in a BMW 320i. While doing so, he made a vital contribution to his brand-mate Claudia Hürtgen's title win in this championship.

On 7 th May, the race was back on. Together with Jörg Müller and Dirk Müller, Hans contested the classic endurance event at the Nürburgring, which he had already won three times. However, the trio suffered a lot of bad luck and spent a much of their time in the garage for repair work. At the end of the day though, Hans once again had reason to be happy, as the BMW M3 GTR wearing the No 1 finished runner-up, with only one car having completed more laps of the 'Green Hell': the second BMW M3 GTR entered by Team BMW Motorsport, raced by Duncan Huisman, Pedro Lamy, Andy Priaulx and Boris Said.

As usual, Hans also was busy as Formula One expert for the German TV station Premiere and following the season finale held at Shanghai, he even presented his first motor racing talk. When the season was over, Hans fully focused on the new GP Masters Series. In the inaugural round, held on 13 th November at Kyalami, and won by Nigel Mansell, Hans delivered in fine style to finish sixth.

He's always driving different brand of cars in that show and he never says anything bad about any of them just to keep them happy. I don't know why he left racing, maybe because he kicked everybody's ass in Trans Am.

He's always driving different brand of cars in that show and he never says anything bad about any of them just to keep them happy. I don't know why he left racing, maybe because he kicked everybody's ass in Trans Am.

Yes, the test drive show is pretty much a commercial for various cars; I don't think they'd get them if they were negative about any of them. Car companies are sensitive to that. I think Tiff Needel said he wasn't allowed a Ferrari press car for years after trashing one a while back, and Chris Harris is currently persona non grata at Alfa Romeo for his published opinions of the Brera.

I have seen Hans Stuck driving on Speed TX sometime back when they (Speed TV) had some BMW features. One had Herr Stuck driving some winners of a BMW contest around the Nurburgring in a 530i.....scared the pee out of them.....

The other shows in that series showed Tommy Kendall as well as Bill Auberlin (SP???)....the shows with Stuck were the best and Stuck must have a wicked but fun personality as well as sense of humor....

Also, on the BMW NA site (where the blather about the X5 on the 'Ring) there was another video of Stuck lapping the "ring in an M3.....he was passing everybody like a madman!!!! Noisy video but fun to watch!!!

My best memory of Stuck was seeing him bare-chested, out cold and sunbathing on the hood of a McLaren F1 at Laguna Seca. Then I got a ride with Auberlin around the course in one of the first 4 door M3s... when you think you're pretty good, do something like that!